What is Social Media Marketing and Why Do I Need It?

Short answer: Social media marketing is one of the most effective ways to drive repeat business by engaging your current clients and attracting a new generation of customers. Businesses that understand the importance of social media and how to market successfully and that invest in a dynamic social media marketing campaign will find themselves reaping the benefits of their additional marketing efforts.

After all, social media isn’t just a fad; it’s a revolution!

What is Social Media Marketing?

Internet users spend the majority of their time on social media. It’s where conversations about what they like or don’t like, recommend or warn about take place. Social media marketing puts your business there—participating in those conversations and proactively shaping your online and offline brand image.

Social media marketing is a way of communicating with your customers—to raise brand awareness, encourage sales and drive brand loyalty—like you never could before. Through social networks like Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Google+, you can post:

Informative and fun messages

Online specials

Links to blogs

Questions to your Fans and Followers

Responses to your customers’ posts

SonicSeo.com grows businesses through effective social media marketing! Call 888-437-3737 or click here for a FREE consultation with our social media experts today!

Using these social media platforms, your business can gain trust with new and existing customers and drive more customers to your business.

Why does my Business need Social Media Marketing?

With a well-constructed social media marketing campaign, your business can:

Communicate better with existing and potential clients: Using social media, your business can engage your audience about your products or services and join conversations about your industry. These conversations are happening online every day, and your business should be part of the discussion.

Improve customer service: Many people today prefer digital interaction (direct messages, emails, etc.) over calling or going to a physical store. With 79% of US adults using social media (Hubspot), many of these digital-only communicators are your customers. To provide the best service, your business needs to meet your customers on their “turf”. Using social media allows you to be more in tune with your customers’ problems and needs—and to respond to them more quickly.

Use technology to amp up word of mouth marketing: Social media has changed the way that people communicate. People use social networks, like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest and LinkedIn, to connect to friends and colleagues, chat or share information. In fact, “75% of people are somewhat or highly likely to share content they like online with friends, co-workers or family–49% do this at least weekly” (Chadwich Martin Bailey, Consumer Pulse). In other words, social media marketing is really just word-of-mouth marketing powered by technology. It is the new way to build relationships and brand loyalty. Social media marketing allows you to make friends sharing with friends profitable.

Boost search engine results: An innovative social media marketing campaign boosts your visibility in the search engine results. Social media marketing is playing a bigger and bigger role in the ranking of web pages in search engines. In fact, Google+ information is built in to Google’s ranking algorithm. Also, search engines take cues from social media activities. A link to your content is like a vote for your website, so when someone shares content from your website on a social network, the search engines notice. And that’s how social media marketing has a real effect on the visibility of your website.

Increase Sales: Engage your customers and they will trust you and listen to you when you suggest new products or add-on services. Give them attractive online offers, and they’ll share them with their friends.

Today, social media marketing is no longer a question—it’s an absolute necessity. But it’s worth the effort. According to Forbes.com, companies who develop a strategic social media campaign see significant gains in ROI. Of the 3,342 consumer and business-to-business companies surveyed, the overwhelming majority reported ROI of 95% or more! 25% reported achieving 100% ROI, 12% reported 200% ROI, and 12% reported 1000% ROI! It’s time for your business to join the revolution!